“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” – Thomas Jefferson

Mean Girls in the GOP

They say “There’s nothing faker than watching two women meet for the first time.” That is true as true can be. It’s no secret that women are tougher on other women than they are on men. The woman standing next to you could agree with every last thing you say and do and you may still find a reason to hate her. It may be her age, her outfit, the color of her hair, the way she’s smiling but there are some of you who will always find a reason. This is nothing new but it seems to be becoming more prevalent within our own party, which has cranked my ‘what the hell?’ thought train.

The first time I went to a local YR meeting, I was verbally assaulted by someone who was not only a member but a candidate running for public office- for no good reason other than the fact that I was a young female. I wouldn’t have gone back to that chapter if I didn’t have to for work. We see woman candidates take heat for their clothing, their make up, and their weight. We watched this last GA GOP Convention cycle as a group of older woman continuously ganged up on another young female. Almost daily I see women attacking women on Facebook, publicly trying to make them feel stupid. ( I know all the men reading this are thinking “You are in charge of your own emotions. No one can make you feel any particular way.” Blah. Blah. Blah) I won’t use the word bullying but it’s a close second. Straying from the issues and looking to falsely and publicly embarrass, shame, humiliate, and so on, someone’s character (not principles, but character) is wrong. It’s wrong because it’s not constructive and it doesn’t help the party, it doesn’t help the cause and it certainly doesn’t advance the conservative message. It helps you feel better about yourself for an hour. And everyone just stands around like it’s okay. Liberals continue to drive the message and recruit people to their party while you’re upset that Susan wore a purple shift dress and you thought it made her look more available than you.

My closest friend in Georgia politics? We disagree on almost everything. We rarely support the same candidates and we’ve argued about issues that we don’t see eye to eye on, yet we walk into events together sporting our competing stickers and we support each others ventures. Never do we tear each other down. Everything offered up is constructive, like, “Hey I heard this…” or “Maybe you could tell your candidate to {x}”. We learned early that we have nothing to gain from competing with each other. And we’re 23 and 24 years old–just past the post of childhood. Do we need to set the example for you?

I am in no way saying women should support women candidates simply for the reason that they are women. I’m just saying you don’t have to tear them down simply because they are women. I’m not saying you shouldn’t vet someone and I’m not saying everyone should be immediate best friends. That will never happen. But how on earth will we ever recruit new women to the party if we shut the door before they’re even up the sidewalk? I expect older, long-standing party ladies to set a better example. I expect that conservative women will not exclude other conservative women. I expect that as an activist in the party, you want to advance liberty, freedom and conservative principles and not your mean girl agenda.